


Tin Box Toast

by mistyzeo



Category: Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: 221B Ficlet, F/M, Toast to the Woman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-01
Updated: 2014-04-01
Packaged: 2018-01-17 19:52:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1400401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mistyzeo/pseuds/mistyzeo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written as a Toast to the Woman for the 3/31/14 meeting of Watson's Tin Box of Maryland.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tin Box Toast

The first time Wilhelm's men come for the photograph, she hides it beneath the floorboards. The next time, it is tucked in the pockets of her walking-out coat. The Duke diverts her luggage, but she has the photograph in her handbag. Her dressing room has been invaded, her privacy shattered, her nerves shaken, and all because she loved him, once. It is fortunate that she has made a name for herself through true talent, because she knows what people mean when they murmur "opera singer" and whisper "adventuress."

Wilhelm's affection for her has curdled, just as hers for him. She needs protection now, and so she keeps the photograph to hold him at bay. She doesn't want to send it to the second daughter of the King of Scandinavia, but she will if she has to.

Godfrey is a lawyer. She goes to him first for his professional expertise, but there's something about him that draws her back to him again and again. He becomes more than her advisor; he becomes her friend, and soon he becomes her gentleman caller and her lover. He isn't a sponsor. Irene doesn't need his finances. She likes him too much for that.

So she agrees to his mad, wonderful plan, and they dash to do it before noon strikes: Mrs Godfrey Norton or bust.


End file.
